Terror attack in France kills three people

Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame swapped himself for the hostages and was critically wounded. BBC/PA.

A terror attack in France has killed three people, not including the attacker, and wounded 16 more. BBC. The suspect, a 25 year old named Redouane Lakdim, claimed he was an ISIS supporter and demanded the release of one of the Paris attackers, Salah Abdeslam. The attack began in Carcassonne where the suspect murdered and carjacked a civilian. He also shot a police officer that was jogging. The suspect then ran into a supermarket in Trebes and killed two people while taking the rest hostage. During the siege that continued, police secured several hostages but one was left as a human shield. A police officer named Lt. Col. Arnaud Baltrame volunteered to take the woman's place. The suspect eventually shot Baltrame and a tactical team killed the suspect. The suspect was known to French intelligence agencies. 

My Comment:

This story is completely flying under the radar in the United States. Sure, today was  a big news day otherwise, with the huge spending bill passing and a lot of other things happening, but a major terror attack in France should have been a top headline. 

This attack could have been a lot worse. The suspect somewhat inexplicably took hostages instead of just going for a high body count. That descion was motivated by the desire to see the release of one of the Paris attackers but it resulted in a much lower casualty count. This is a very good thing and it probably saved quite a few lives. And it obviously failed in his goal, which had no credible chance of happening in anyways. 

This seems like a "lone wolf" attack rather than a core ISIS attack. Though ISIS has claimed the attacker as one of their own, I doubt he had anything resembling an actual link to the terror group. Instead, he was probably radicalized by online propaganda or local radicals. 

I had been expecting a major terror attack in Europe for quite some time. ISIS has been very quiet lately. The pace of attacks has greatly decreased but I knew that the terror group isn't done yet. I was expecting an attack an warned just a few days ago that an attack was overdue. Still, the pace of attacks has very obviously declined.  

 Part of that is because they have been defeated on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria and no longer have the power and money to pull off major terror attacks. Part of it too is the fact ISIS propaganda has taken a huge hit as well. Their core groups aren't able to strike and even the lone wolf attackers can't be reached as easily. 

There was very little information about the kind of gun used by the attacker. Despite fairly strict gun control in France, terrorists seem to have very little trouble getting guns to commit these attacks. The presence of a gun though suggests a larger conspiracy as getting a gun requires a link to the black market in most cases. Still, it goes to show the limits of gun control when it comes to preventing mass shootings/terrorist attacks. 

If there is any good that will come from this attack it is the example set by Lt. Col. Beltrame. Offering yourself up as a hostage to save an innocent woman is one of the braver things I have seen recently. It's a great example of heroism in action and Lt. Col. Beltrame is a credit to all of France. I sincerely hope that he survives.